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Our Wellbeing Expert, Sam Sargent, provides five simple tips you can integrate in to your life today.

I wholeheartedly believe that everything starts with ourselves. When we can nurture and love ourselves we can create the kind of nurturing, kind and loving environment that we desire in our lives.

“Yesterday, I was clever, so I wanted to change the world. Today, I am wise, so I am changing myself. “ - Rumi

I often refer to quotes from Rumi, the 13th Century Persian poet and Sufi mystic, as he had a way of expressing the truths of life oh so eloquently.

When it comes to love, we hear time and time again that we must love ourselves first before we can love another, but it’s easier said than done a lot of the time. How do we put this concept in to pragmatic action?

First and foremost, remember your body, mind and being are all interconnected, so make it a conscious practice to nurture a little part of each of these aspects every day. To expand:

1. Stop judging yourself and comparing yourself with others. Especially when in the mirror. Take all that judgemental energy and focus it toward nurturing your body with gentle skin care rituals, preparing home-made healthy meals, and getting out and about for a fun form of exercise that gets your body moving.

2. Take a moment each day for some ‘me time’. Even if it’s only a couple of minutes in the shower. Add a couple of drops of 100% organic essential oils to the corner of your shower floor. Inhale the fresh scent. Exhale any worries or stress.

3. Quit bitching. Before you open your mouth, ask “is it kind?”, “is it necessary?” If it’s a YES to both, then go for it. If it’s a NO to either one of the questions, then please keep quiet. Do this for the next two weeks and see the difference in your life, and the way in which people interact with you

4. Nurture your body. At the end of the day gift yourself a five minute self massage using organic oils, and practice being grateful for the body that it is, and has the potential to be, enabling you to walk, run, swim and dance.

5. Spend less time on your digital devices and more time opening your eyes to connect with the beauty of your surrounds. Gaze up at the beautiful blue sky, and the birds flying by. Admire the vibrant colour of flowers, and trees blowing in the wind. Connect back with nature. Walk barefoot on the earth. Take notice of these things and give your appreciation.